I met Carol Feller aka Stolen Stitches for the first time this summer at Knit Nation in London. I got to talk to her a bit about her new book Contemporary Irish Knits. Then, I impatiently waited for the book to release while I admired the photos that were gradually added to Ravelry at the end of the summer.
In general, the book is very spirited and is stuffed with beautiful photographs of all the gorgeous cabled designs. The book contains some enjoyable Irish knitting history, but what I love most about the book are the features on mills and hand-dyers. Information and stories about these mills and hand-dyers (including Hedgehog Fibres, one of my all-time favorites!) divide the book into sections where Carol features their yarn in a batch of designs.
The book’s strength is definitely in the stunning cabled garments. Carol is a master of creating seamless and intuitive sweater patterns that are made to flatter and fit the body. A couple of my favorites are Ardara
and Killybegs
Both sweaters look very classic and comfortable, but also stylish and tailored to perfection.
About two years ago I knitted the first sample for the book ‘Killybegs’. At this stage the book was really just a dream so I didn’t know where the pattern was going to end up. In the months after that was knit I started to talk with Wiley about the possibility of a project featuring Irish mills and they really loved the idea. From there I fleshed out a series of ideas to see how they worked together and Killybegs was the first completed project in the mix. -Carol Feller
There are also adorable children’s sweaters like Ballinagree
and Rossberg.
I absolutely love the bright pop of color for that little cardigan. Speaking of color, I am crazy about this golden colorway called Autumn from Cushendale Woollen Mills. The blanket/shawl shown below in that color is called Dangan.
I saved my absolute most favorite design for last. It’s the Straboy hooded pullover.
I would have bought the whole book just to have that one beautiful perfect pattern. That textured hood combined with the plump cables make my heart go pitter patter. I’m already furiously contemplating which yarn/color to choose to make one for myself. Plus, the pattern just so happens to be sized for men, which is perfect for me! However, I have been known to modify many women’s sweaters to fit manly figure, but Straboy saves me from making any of those changes.
I asked Carol to give me some behind the scenes info. about the new book so enjoy these words from the designer herself!
Up to this point I’ve primarily worked as a self-published designer with some patterns also in magazines. However I really enjoyed the challenge of pulling a bigger project together. I ended up doing most of the larger garments first of all as I knew they’d take the most time and didn’t want to have to rush. The smaller children’s items and accessories where done after the big ones were done.
The project ended up being quite a family affair. The models in the book are cousins (3 cousins), 3 of my sons, my niece, my sister, father, friend’s husband and me! Now I wonder if your readers can spot who is who in the book! It does make it tons of fun for my family to look through the book, a real family album. I was delighted for my husband (Joseph Feller) to be able to do the photography here in Ireland. This meant that we could take full advantage of our travelling to get the perfect photos. When we went to Donegal last summer as a family to visit the mill we made pit stops along the way to photograph the scenery. This in fact is where the photo of the goats in front of the red door came from, it is fact not staged! The photos of Ardara in front of the waterfall were all done with our four boys sitting in the car behind Joe while photographing. You really never know what is going on at the other side of the camera…. -Carol Feller
Carol is generously donating a copy of Contemporary Irish Knits. Leave a comment for a chance to receive the book and I’ll randomly select a winner. You can also purchase the book here.
Photos © Joseph Feller
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